IVF Comes of Age - Happy Birthday Louise!
25th July 2003 25th July 2003 heralds the quarter
century anniversary of the birth of the first ‘test-tube baby’,
Louise Brown. The British Fertility Society (BFS) would like to
take this opportunity to wish Louise a very happy birthday and to
look forward to the next 25 years of assisted conception.
Infertility strikes one in six couples for many different reasons.
Since Louise was born in 1978 it is estimated that 60,000 UK women
have become pregnant through IVF (in vitro fertilisation)
and other assisted conception techniques. IVF remains the most commonly
used infertility treatment but other methods such ICSI (intracytoplasmic
sperm injection) are also now used. ICSI, for example, which was
developed in the early ‘90s, has improved chances for couples
with male factor problems.
IVF in the Future
Professor Alison Murdoch, Chair of the BFS, said ‘The
next step for assisted conception is to better understand how a
very early immature egg develops to enable it to be fertilised.
Being able to replicate this in vitro would mean that immature ovarian
tissue could be stored and used for several treatments.’
This would significantly reduce the stress and discomfort currently
associated with the physical procedures involved in IVF. Women would
no longer need to go through the complicated and inconvenient process
of taking drugs to make them ovulate at the appropriate time, and
one laparoscopy (egg collection) procedure would provide sufficient
dormant eggs that can then be matured as and when they are needed
for several treatment cycles.
The cost of IVF procedures would also be considerably reduced,
a factor that would help bring UK access to IVF in line with Europe
and hopefully banish the ‘postcode lottery’ of available
NHS treatment.
Professor Murdoch commented, ‘The birth of Louise Brown,
and many of the developments since, have shown that reproductive
medicine in this country can rank with the best in the world. For
the future, we must strive to give more patients the chance to become
parents. We must improve IVF success rates, decrease multiple births
and minimise patient stress. To achieve this we need better ethical
and financial support for further research into egg and embryo development
and improved NHS funding to catch up with the rest of Europe in
availability of treatment.’
For more information: please contact the British Fertility Society press office
For a brief explanation of individual fertility treatments go to:
http://www.hfea.gov.uk/forPatients/pgInfer/treatments_available.htm
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